The water flowed through Theresa’s hair and felt cold against her skin. Fish scattered from the area beside her, Odie, Herry and Jay. They at last reached the opening to the building where the device was last held. Rubble and wreck scattered the ground and the many pillars that used to stand high were lying on the floor and crumbling.
‘Sure different than what it used to be,’ Jay said, taking off his scuba helmet.
‘Yah,’ Theresa added, looking around, ‘but where is that book?’
The book seemed to answer her call. A large explosion of red light came from the right corner, sending the others back into the water; except Theresa.
She floated up towards a globe or blue light, electricity surrounding it. Only Theresa could pierce its barriers as she lifted the faded leather book from the light. The instant she returned to the ground, a loud cackling erupted from the walls of the room as Jay, Odie and Herry ran up the steps to Theresa.
They had barely gotten within twenty feet of her when she raised her hands to her head, turning to face them and thrust one hand towards them.
Jay realized something was wrong the moment he touched the water, but now he was certain. Theresa’s eyes were green, glowing, and menacing. A force pushed him back to the other side of the room to the wall and he stayed there whilst the two other men slid down to the water.
‘Theresa—Theresa—’ he gasped, as if unable to breath properly, ‘Theresa, please! Let me go!’
A bloodcurdling scream filled the air to add to the laughing, from Theresa. She fell to the ground, her hands clutching her head.
Theresa’s pain and screams sliced through Jay like it was his physical pain and he struggled to get back to her, so as to comfort her. Jay wasn’t going to let her die like this.
‘1, 2, 3,’ Jay pushed himself, with all of his might, off of the wall and plunged into the water. Static coursed through his veins as he swam towards the stone steps. Trembling, he walked over to Theresa as blackness seemed to swallow her into its depths.
A scythe slithered around her neck and a hand rested upon her front as a man pulled her up.
Cronos looked the same, except for a few extra lines that had formed over time from his incarceration in Tartarus. But otherwise had a clean face with no signs of injury.
‘Ah, Jay,’ He said, pulling the unconscious Theresa up from the rubble, ‘still trying to rescue the damsel from the God. You should know better than to challenge me.’
‘And you should know better than to get between me and T—my friends.’
‘Oh yes I should,’ Cronos answered, creating a portal behind them, ‘But I guess I never learn.’
‘How did you get out of prison Cronos?’ That was more of a statement than an actual question.
‘What a Dynamic Duo, eh Jay; Theresa will make a fine accomplice.’ And at that, Cronos slipped back into the portal with Theresa Dragging along in front of him.
‘No!’ Jay cried out as he tried to fly into the portal, but was, painfully, unsuccessful. He punched the ground with his injured fist, only to have more pain spill over him, but he did not care. He stood up and slapped his right thigh in anger. His wetsuit was now dripping with the blood from his hand and his forehead was now dripping with scarlet tears.
He turned to find Herry and Odie clambering out of the water, both shivering. Herry had a gash across his leg and was limping, his arm draped over Odie who, clearly, was having a very difficult time supporting Herry’s weight even though he was tall now. There was a bruise plain as day on his right eye and left cheekbone as blood dribbled down his chin from his lower lip.
‘She—she’s gone,’ Jay muttered under his breath as he approached the lumbering heap of Herry and Odie, who had both now collapsed. ‘Cronos took her, and I don’t know what to do.’
‘Don’t worry man,’ Odie said quietly.
‘Yah buddy,’ Herry panted, clutching his leg in agony, ‘She’ll be okay. I promise.’